Teapot Trophy 12th October 2019

Link to Photo Gallery

The forecast weather wasn’t good, but a light southerly breeze was going to make for good racing from the west bank. Peter Jackson, our friend from Northampton was first to arrive and together with Charles Wand Tetley we got set up and made good the sideways movement of the landing stage, courtesy of the Abbey Meads lake vandals!! From the bank the weed situation didn’t seem too bad, but it was the rain that was again the feature of the day. It rained continuously until we finished at about 2 o’clock.

The wind was southerly, light and patchy with the odd gusts either more south-easterly or south-westerly to keep one concentrating on getting speed out of this light air. All 5 of us got weed at some point or other, but this evened out and we had some good racing, very close at times and we all enjoyed that. Peter, who was made an absolutely superb job of building his UP from my moulds was learning how to get the best out of his A rig and picked up some tips and took photographs of my UP rig detail. Charles, who hadn’t sailed his WHISPER much was also learning, but his boat was going very well at times, particularly offwind.  Unfortunately the relatively new rudder servo in his BOOT developed a fault and he had to retire. However he sailed Martin’s PRIME NUMBER and my UP a couple of times and was delighted to win the last of the 8 races.

Martin, sailing his PRIME NUMBER with a short keel had the best day and won on merit as can be seen from the results, but he also won on handicap. He was presented with the Teapot Trophy, which was kindly brought to the lake by Peter Dunne who was deep into kitchen plumbing and couldn’t stay to sail.

Many thanks to Alan for producing the results schedule and working out the handicap results on the Excel spreadsheet. A photo of the handwritten results is attached is a picture.

Report by Roger Stollery

By |2019-10-16T14:58:05+01:00October 16th, 2019|Categories: Games|Comments Off on Teapot Trophy 12th October 2019

Ted Gearey Trophy Club Event with the Bart’s Bash – Biggest Little Boat Bash Report

This was event was to be run in the morning as a conventional club race except that we would record the times of each Marblehead at the finishing line. This was in order to take part in the charity event, Bart’s Bash; Biggest Little Boat Bash set up especially for radio sailing by Shaun Priestley, who works for the Andrew Simpson Foundation who are promoting this event.   This foundation is for the encouragement of young people to go sailing.

When we arrived at Abbey Meads we were in no hurry because there was no wind. So we made good the damage caused by vandals to the launching platform on the west bank, which we had prepared for following photo kindly taken by John Townsend last Wednesday.

With an easterly forecast we launched our dinghy from the southern launching platform and there was a little bit of wind, but you could barely feel it. So we abandoned the idea of sailing our Marbleheads and set up the Footy Internet Course (FIC), because Footys go amazingly well in light winds as a result of of their big sail area and lightweight the displacement. We sailed 3 times round the course as is required by the FIC rules to complete a race and we raced 6 times, before the wind changed through 180° and destroyed the course.

Race 3 was good because Roger was timed at 3 minutes dead and Martin at 3.03 minutes. It was close racing and much more exciting than it appears on the surface! Our worst period extended Martin’s winning time to 8 minutes and 31 seconds and Roger was unable to finish! Towards the end the wind just died away and turned round making the course collapse.

Guildford Model Yacht Club are donating a minimum of £50 to the Andrew Simpson Foundation.

Our next event is on Saturday, 12 October and look forward to a big entry and getting our Marblehead racing going again.

By |2019-09-22T23:35:19+01:00September 22nd, 2019|Categories: Games|Comments Off on Ted Gearey Trophy Club Event with the Bart’s Bash – Biggest Little Boat Bash Report

BOTTLE boat Championships – Waldringfield 11 August

Dear BOTTLE boat enthusiasts,
The Championship was held on 11 August, whilst I was on holiday in Waldringfield and unfortunately as I had no computer there this report is rather delayed. I would like to thank Commodore Ian Videlo who borrowed my SD card and some of the photographs were on the Waldringfield Sailing Club Facebook page the day after the event. I would also like to thank Adrian Price who not only did the grand job as rescue boat in his inflatable kayak, but put a camera on the bow and produced a short film, which gives a very good flavour of the action on the water. The link to this is https://youtu.be/YxiInkKdXOI. The report is already on the Yachts and Yachting ‘clubs and classes’ website under ‘model yachts’ and will appear in the Model Boats magazine in due course.
The next event for BOTTLE boats is the BRASS MONKEY event at Guildford Model Yacht Club on Saturday 14th December and I look forward to seeing you there.
Cheers, Roger
By |2019-09-22T23:33:15+01:00September 22nd, 2019|Categories: Games|Comments Off on BOTTLE boat Championships – Waldringfield 11 August

GAMES 9 Marblehead interclub at RADIO SAILING WOKING in Goldsworth Lake.

Short Report by Roger Stollery based on a report by RO Peter Kirby

Link to GAMES Results Page

Sunday 28th July dawned with a cloudless sky, comfortable temperature and best of all, a variable south-westerly breeze for the duration of the first Interclub GAMES event that RSW had organized.

The wind allowed a 200 metre windward/leeward course to be set along the centre of the lake.

Eight Marbleheads sailed 17 races in one fleet in a 3-10 mph breeze with gusts of 15 mph. There was close company in the beats to the windward and spreader marks, followed by runs accelerating into occasional exciting planing speeds to the leeward gate.

The racing die was cast from Race 1 onwards in that Colin Goodman (Grunge) in the majority of cases took the lead from the windward mark , thereafter to rocket down wind with others, notably Dave Andrews (Grunge),Roger Stollery (Up) and Martin Crysell (Prime Number) in hot pursuit, but were seldom able to depose Colin from taking the spoils.

In the wind shifts, local knowledge of the peculiarities of the lake was put to the test by ‘home representatives’ Roger Pearce (Prime Number), Simon Jeffs (Prime Number), Peter Dunne (Starkers), and Peter Chance (Starkers), but to no avail as Colin Goodman claimed a well deserved top place on the podium with 11 wins and this result now puts him at the top of the leaderboard of the GAMES series.

At the prize giving in the Radio Sailing Woking club room, Race Officer Peter Kirby was pleased with the competitors well disciplined conduct, which resulted in no protests and all incidents resolved on the water, as he had requested. The competitors thanked him and the three-man race team for running this event and taking on this GAMES interclub event.

The overall GAMES results are available on the Guildford MYC website www.guildfordmyc.co.uk and more information about activities at Radio Sailing Woking can be found on www.radiosailingwoking.uk.

Results:

1stColin Goodman Chelmsford GRUNGE 17

2ndDave Andrews MYSA GRUNGE 32

3rdRoger Stollery Guildford UP 36

4thMartin Crysell Guildford PRIME NUMBER 47

5thRoger Pearce Woking PRIME NUMBER 63

6thPeter Chance Woking STARKERS 87

7thPeter Dunne Woking STARKERS 92

8thSimon Jeffs Woking PRIME NUMBER 114

By |2019-08-07T21:20:08+01:00August 7th, 2019|Categories: Games|Comments Off on GAMES 9 Marblehead interclub at RADIO SAILING WOKING in Goldsworth Lake.

2019 Marblehead National Championship, West Kirby 2019-07-21/22

Report for the GMYC website by Roger Stollery

This Championship followed on from the 10 rater National Championship, which was on the Thursday and Friday. 17 single heat races were sailed and the championship was won by James Edwards sailing a TRANCE. The Marbleheads sailed 15 races in 2 heats and we used nearly all our rigs.

Saturday

We were lucky with the weather with just a little bit of rain on Saturday in marked contrast to Friday’s downpours. Guildford was represented by 4 members, Peter and I, Rob Vice and David Coode and we all had problems at times in the strong wind. David and I spent most of our time in B heat and had some interesting races and often finished close together. The wind was blowing more or less straight down the lake from the west and was on average 16 miles an hour and maybe over 20 in the gusts; it was a day for the smallest C rigs. The photographs were taken in the seeding Race 1, when most were in C2 and show the big waves, which built up at the lower end of the lake where we were sailing. These had a big influence on performance in both directions. Whilst the UPs weren’t bothered off the wind, which we thoroughly enjoyed, but we did have some problems stalling on occasion when tacking, which didn’t help the results. Peter was disappointed that he led one of the races by quite a margin, only to pick up weed and spoil the result. The big waves didn’t help judgement when you were crossing other boats and I made inadvertent collisions when ducking starboard tack transoms, one of which caused a hole in the bottom of the boat which I didn’t notice until the end of the race, by which time it was half full of water!  All but one of the races was won by either Brad Gibson, 4 or Graham Bantock, 3 with the other race won by Darin Ballington. Brad was the most consistent counting only firsts and seconds and even discarding a second!

Sunday     

The light to moderate breeze was varying from the south or south south-west mainly A rig and occasionally B. However it was the direction that was a nightmare for the ROs Peter Baldwin and Derek Priestley, as when the wind was blowing across the lake it was difficult to set a start. We had to sail from the promenade to buoys that were over 100 metres away, making vision at the windward marks difficult. Reaching America’s Cup style starts and running starts with tried, but were not successful and these races were abandoned. There were constant delays as the courses were reset, but the ROs did a good job under difficult circumstances and 7 races were completed. Martin Roberts was back on form, was very consistent and had the best score for the day, whilst Peter was pleased with having most wins. Even I got out of B and had a couple of races in A heat to boost my rather pathetic scoreline. Rob ended the day well with a win after some pretty poor results in the morning.

This was a pretty good test for next year’s World Marblehead Championship and lots of things were learnt to help future race teams. 3 umpires were used buddied with observers and generally this worked well, although there were very few disputed incidents.

By |2019-07-27T22:56:06+01:00July 27th, 2019|Categories: Games|Comments Off on 2019 Marblehead National Championship, West Kirby 2019-07-21/22

WoW Event 8 – 17th July 2019

For the 3rd time running the WoW! event received no support from local M&S clubs, which is very disappointing particularly today, Wednesday 17th July when there was a nice steady southerly breeze giving the best conditions of all the WoW! event’s. However, well known Footy designer/builder did drive all the way from Northampton and brought his brand-new Marblehead UP, which he had moulded in my UP moulds. He has made an absolutely fantastic job of it and the hull moulding looked really good with a twill carbon pattern. We set up on the west bank and had some really good sailing, which was most enjoyable. After sorting out his trim tensions, Peter’s UPSHOT was going just as well as my UP as can be seen from the attached photos.
As expected the vandals had pulled up the large Danforth anchor, but had not moved the landing stage which is very encouraging in view of the six-week and attended period when you’re not using the lake. The southern landing stage also looked OK, so the chains appear to be a deterrent. Another good thing was that only one small piece of weed was picked up in our 90 minute sailing session. This bodes well for 14 September when we hope to run the Ted Gearey club race as a Bart’s Bash fundraising event. Details of this will follow shortly, but you will find some general information on the MYA website. In addition to running Marbleheads is to be hoped that we can also run the Footy Internet Course in the afternoon and make some connection with Footys worldwide, because this Footy course is the most ideal for comparison of performance because of this unique and accurate 50 foot beat and run course, which is ideal for timed comparisons.
Did anyone see the moon last night? I was quite surprised that in our area of over-lit suburbia, I was able to see part of the eclipse and take the attached photo from the top of my drive.
Regards
Roger
By |2019-07-23T18:54:08+01:00July 23rd, 2019|Categories: Games|Comments Off on WoW Event 8 – 17th July 2019

Arcadia Trophy 06 July 2019

See Gallery Tab for Photos of Event
Dear All,
This was a very encouraging club meeting at Abbey Meads. It was sunny and there was at times a reasonable north-westerly A rig wind towards the end of the morning. Most encouraging for Roger was to find the gates open, the boat and gear out on its trailer and Mark, who had set this up, raring to go sailing.
However, beforehand we had to investigate vandal damage to the west bank landing stage, where there appeared to be only one of the 2 posts supporting it. The fixing to the stair strings with chains instead of rope had worked and the landing stage had not been moved. Whilst the post appeared missing the vandals had snapped it off above the landing stage and we later found it afloat in the bushes. However the really heavy Danforth anchor on a 5 m length of heavy chain to ensure that the landing stage would not float away had been pulled up. Roger and Martin rode out in the boat to relay this mooring and to leave the buoys that had been pulled ashore moored in the centre of the lake to avoid further repositioning by fishermen.
5 competitors sailed 10 races and whilst these included GMYC members Martin, Mark and myself, we were delighted to have the pleasure of top A boat designer, Jon Simpson and his young teenage son Jeremy, to sail with us and help Jeremy understand a bit more about sailing. They raced Roger’s ROAR EDGE Marblehead alternately and won the first race as can be seen from the ARCADIA Trophy scoresheet and they enjoyed our club event. The only downside was that there was some straggly lengths of weed on the course which made its impact on the initial races in particular. It affected everyone, to some extent during the day, but even with his short keel on his PRIME NUMBER Martin suffered most, as can be seen in the results of the first few races. However Martin was the most consistent and his 5 first places broke the tie with Roger for the trophy.
Not only did Mark put the boat out, but he also put it away and as can be seen from the website was also the official photographer of the day. Many thanks indeed.
Whilst this is our final summer time club event, before re-starting in September, there is the WoW! event 8 on 17 July and an opportunity for more Marblehead sailing at the GAMES 9 interclub event at Woking, which it is hoped will be supported well by GMYC and other district club members. If you are really keen there is the opportunity for a late entry to the Marblehead Nationals at West Kirby on the 20th-21 July. At our club event on Saturday 14 September
for the Ted Gearey Trophy, the club are hoping to be part of Bart’s Bash to create a world record entry for a sailing event. This is to publicise sailing and publicise radio sailing within the full-size sailing world and also to help fund the Andrew Simpson Foundation which funds introductory events for those new to sailing. Details will be advised in due course.
Cheers, Roger
2019-07-06 Arcadia scoresheet.jpg
By |2019-07-07T13:01:32+01:00July 6th, 2019|Categories: Games|Comments Off on Arcadia Trophy 06 July 2019

WoW Event 7 – 03 July 2019

Dear All,
WoW! event 7 was warm and sunny, but the wind at Abbey Meads was cantankerous, basically north-easterly 5 mph, but some gusts coming from the north and others from the east. The course was set ensure that one of the legs of the triangle there would be a beat. Four members and an invited guest, Mike Bridges, who worked with Roger at Wimbledon enjoyed 8 races with a mixed fleet of two 10 raters initially, 2 Marbleheads and a BOTTLE boat. Mike was heavily involved in developing the ideas for the folding roofs on Centre and number One Court and making them practical.
Peter Dunne was trying out his new DEFECTOR 10 rater and found a glitch on the steering, so he changed to his new Croatian KANTUM 2 IOM, which performed OK as can be seen from the photographs. New member Charles was able to get his WHISPER Marblehead going, but found control at the distant mark difficult until later in the afternoon.
Roger enjoyed sailing his BOTTLE boat for a change, as it is so light and responsive and on one occasion nippy enough to reach the windward mark first.
The only disappointing thing was that there were no members from other clubs despite every M&S club secretary being emailed with the invitation to this event.
Cheers, Roger
By |2019-07-06T22:52:48+01:00July 6th, 2019|Categories: Games|Comments Off on WoW Event 7 – 03 July 2019

WoW 03 July 2019

WoW!! Workshop On Water

Guildford Model Yacht Club is introducing new Wednesday After Lunch Events for 2019. Based on the most successful of our winter Friday Evening Workshops – SAIL TRIMMING, we will be holding summertime coaching Workshops on our Abbey Meads Lake, which will be completely free.

World Vane Marblehead Champion, Roger Stollery, will be passing on his great experience in radio, vane and full-size sailing to help YOU get the best out of your boat. This may help YOU to enjoy your sailing more and be more competitive than those who miss out on these WoW events.

Every class of boat is invited to Abbey Meads Lake whether you are a one design sailor of the DF classes, where it is only your sailing skill that gives YOU the difference, or the fine tuning of IOM’s, or the swing rigs of the M and 10 rater classes.

WoW! events are designed to be FUNand not just about sail trimming. During the 9 event WoW series there will be coaching sessions to practise things like starting, and every aspect of sailing round the course. As well as sailing windward, leeward and reaching courses, honing YOUR skills in finding the best winds etc,there will be one session with a short FUN course against the clock that you won’t have used before. This will show why YOU have to talk to each other, sail in a straight line, tack on the shifts both up and down wind and avoid contacts at all costs.

Inevitably, when there are a few boats on the water there will be some racing for YOU to try out your new trimsetc. You will enjoy sailing at Abbey Meads, one of the best lakes in the southwith fantastic visibility from the high level control areas. GMYC are skilled at running more than one class at once to provide FUN and a challenge for all sizes of boat.

WoW! After Lunch Events start at 2 PM and depending on the weather, finish at about 5 PM. The next one is on Wednesday, 3rdJuly 2019. Please check on the GMYC website www.guildfordmyc.co.ukfor the dates of other WoW! events, which are planned for Wednesday,  17th& 31stJuly.

If you want to come, you MUST phone Roger on (01483) 421801 either before or on the morning of the WoW!

By |2019-07-02T16:03:37+01:00July 2nd, 2019|Categories: Games|Comments Off on WoW 03 July 2019

Crawley Mariners Evening Sail June 2019

Dear All,
“For many years now this evening event on the last Wednesday of June has been on the GMYC calendar and takes place at the Crawley Mariners Yacht Club at Hedgecourt Lake near East Grinstead. This is a beautiful spot on the edge of a deep wood through which you gain access along a 1/2 a mile long track. I can’t remember when we first made contact with Crawley Mariners, but it must have been in the late 1980s or early 1990s, when GMYC were invited to a pub near Crawley to give a wintertime talk to their members about model yachting. We were invited there again recently at the start of the Footy era.
This led to us being invited for this summertime evening at Hedgecourt Lake by the then Commodore, Dr Donal Roche. In order to create interest in competitive radio sailing, we use the Footy Internet Course, a standard 50 foot windward leeward course, recorded the times for doing 3 laps and Donal has always provided the prizes for seniors and juniors at the end of the competition. Although I have been the contact as GMYC, I have tried to involved other sailing clubs and there have been participants from Southwater Dabblers, Clapham and more recently Frensham Pond, with the intention of demonstrating how good radio sailing is and trying to get Crawley Mariners to do their own radio sailing events. They did join the MYA briefly in 2013, but despite various members having the odd radio boat nothing has flourished.
In order to increase their interest, this year I was joined by Keith and Graham from Frensham Pond and we took a total of 10 boats and we all travelled together in my Focus estate! You can see the extent of this in the photograph preparing to load up for the journey home. As well as 4 Footys, my Marblehead UP, a BOTTLE boat, we took 4 Dragon DF65s, with the objective of showing them what could be purchased for £200. Keith Parrott did a grand job of promoting this class, which has been very successful at Frensham Pond, with big fleets making the IOM appear not to be the starter boat any more. Several members were certainly very interested and with an invitation to visit the Dragons racing at Frensham, we may well have succeeded in our long association with Crawley Mariners in creating some regular radio racing there.
Evening sailing is usually a problem with light winds, but this year there was a cracking breeze from the north-east blowing more or less straight down the lake towards the control area. All the boats were out sailing to start with just to enjoy these B rig conditions, with the unusual sight of boats planing on this lake! Once the Footy Internet Course was set up, several juniors and senior Crawley sailors enjoyed the challenge of sailing Footys round the course. The photograph shows one of the keenest members receiving his prize from Donal. The FIC results are posted on the www.sailfootyuk.com website.”
By |2019-06-30T12:24:51+01:00June 30th, 2019|Categories: Games|Comments Off on Crawley Mariners Evening Sail June 2019
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